


Holiday Cupcakes

by hazelNuts



Series: Holiday Cupcakes [2]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Baking, Chapter 3 tags:, Christmas, Easter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Father's Day, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, New Years, Presumed pre-story character death, Valentine's Day, background LaFontaine/Perry, end chapter 3 tags, rating and tags might change as more chapters are added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-12 22:09:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3357065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelNuts/pseuds/hazelNuts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carmilla's never had a girlfriend. She's never really had anyone to celebrate <i>anything</i> with. But now that she's dating Laura, she realizes that holidays are a lot more fun when you can share them with someone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Red Velvet (Valentine's Day)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cupcake for Christmas](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2886422) by [hazelNuts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelNuts/pseuds/hazelNuts). 



> I'm really bad at tagging. If you think I forgot any, please let me know in the comments.

Carmilla had never expected to find herself in this position. The position where she had a girlfriend on Valentine’s Day. She’d had hook-ups, but never a girlfriend.

She sighed and looked up from her notebook to Perry and LaFontaine. They were eating dinner in their room, because she’d recruited them into helping her plan her Valentine surprise for Laura.

‘Are you sure she’ll like this?’

‘Yes,’ LaFontaine sighed in exasperation. ‘Research is my specialty. She’ll love it.’

‘But the most important thing is that she knows you’ve made a real effort,’ Perry adds, placing a comforting hand on her arm.

‘Thank you. I should go. I still have some shopping to do.’

She got up and stuffed the notebook with the shopping list and sketches into her bag.

LaFontaine followed her to the door, before closing it behind her they said, ‘If she doesn’t like it, you’re going to have to figure it out for yourself. Perry and I will not be available tomorrow.’

Carmilla nodded in understanding and left to go buy her girlfriend her Valentine’s Day surprise.

~

After her shopping was done, Carmilla had a late class, meaning she’d been dragging around three bulging shopping bags all around campus for hours. She’d never been happier to be back in their tiny dorm room.

It was late, so Laura was already fast asleep. The girl’s hair was fanned out over her pillow, a small frown between her eyebrows. Carmilla reached out and gently smoothed out the skin. Her heart skipped a beat when Laura sighed at the touch.

God, she was turning into mush. She was watching her girlfriend sleep!

She unpacked her bags and stalled everything out on her bed. There were strings of fairy lights, ivy, tiny fake roses, a couple of teddy bears with hearts embroidered on their stomachs, and two rolls of duct tape.

She started with the fairy lights, carefully taping them to the walls in the shapes of hearts. It was painstaking work and several times she nearly woke Laura by bumping into her bed. Next were the strands of ivy; those she used to write the word ‘Love’ on the wall above Laura’s computer. The tiny roses were weaved around them. Stepping back, she admired her handiwork. It looked pretty good.

She picked up the teddy bears and put them on the bed with Laura. The largest bear she carefully placed under the girl’s arm.

The last part of her gift would arrive tomorrow.

 ~

A hand brushed against her cheek. It was a very nice, soft hand. She rubbed her face against it and hummed.

‘I swear,’ Laura whispered. ‘Sometimes you’re like a giant cat.’

Carmilla opened her eyes to Laura kneeling next to her bed. Her head was resting on her hands and behind her, the fairy lights glowed.

‘Damn it. I wanted to get up before you, so I could turn them on,’ Carmilla croaked, her voice still sleepy.

‘Would you like me to turn them off again and go back to bed? I can act surprised when you wake me up with kisses.’

‘No, it’s okay, cutie.’

She scooted back to make room for her girlfriend. Laura climbed in next to her, and fitted her back to Carmilla’s front, tangling their limbs.

Carmilla hid her smile in Laura’s hair. She loved the feeling of not knowing where she ended and Laura began.

‘Do you like it?’

‘I love it,’ Laura sighed. ‘You totally outdid me, though.’

‘Really?’

‘I know you’ve never really had a girlfriend before. So I thought we’d just stay in our dorm, eat pizza and watch terrible vampire movies.’

‘I really like that plan actually. But let’s get some more sleep first.’

She tightened her arms around Laura’s waist and drifted off, back to sleep.

~

It was mid-afternoon and they were watching _Dracula: Prince of Darkness_ , when there was a knock on their door.

‘You get it,’ Laura said.

‘I can’t. It’s for you, cupcake.’

Laura perked up at that. She untangled herself from Carmilla and the blankets, trying to get to the door as quickly as possible. She took the package handed to her by the delivery boy and quickly dove back into the mess of blankets.

‘What is it?’ she asked eagerly.

‘Just open it.’

Laura ripped off the bright pink wrapping paper, squealing in delight when she recognized the emblem on the box.

‘You got me baked goods!’

‘I got you cupcakes,’ Carmilla laughed, watching her girlfriend drool over the food.

‘You got me heart shaped, red velvet cupcakes,’ Laura exclaimed. ‘You are no longer allowed to say you’re not romantic!’

She carefully selected one of the little cakes and took a bite. The moan that followed, made Carmilla’s skin tingle in anticipation. Did Laura even realize that the sounds she was making were obscene?

When Laura put the box with cupcakes on the floor and pressed her into the mattress, Carmilla realized the answer was _yes_. Laura knew exactly what she was doing, with the way she pressed their lips together and slid her hands from Carmilla’s waist, up to her face. She tasted like sugar and chocolate. She always tasted like sugar and chocolate. They were Carmilla’s favourite flavours in the world.


	2. Carrot (Easter)

‘We should make this more interesting,’ Laura mused.

‘You don’t think the baking of the cupcakes was interesting enough?’ Carmilla asked, raising her eyebrows.

They’d at it all morning. The first batch had still been raw, the second had actually caught fire, and the third had somehow exploded. Perry had chased everyone out of the communal kitchen after that, and set to work all by herself. An hour later, sixteen perfect carrot cake cupcakes with little marzipan eggs were sitting on the kitchen counter.

‘I maintain that the oven has a grudge against me.’ Laura climbed onto a desk chair to put a cupcake on top of LaFontaine’s bookcase. ‘I was thinking a bet.’

‘You have my attention, cutie,’ Carmilla said, helping her girlfriend down from the chair.

‘If I find all my cupcakes before you do, you will clean for a week.’

Carmilla grimaced. She hated cleaning. ‘Fine, but if I win I get your yellow pillow for a month.’

‘Why do you want my pillow so badly?’

‘It’s comfortable,’ Carmilla shrugged. She turned to Perry’s side of the room and carefully placed a cupcake behind a picture frame. ‘Plus, it smells like you.’

Laura wrapped her arms around her waist from behind her.

‘You’re such a sap,’ she grinned, and placed a kiss right behind Carmilla’s ear. ‘But if you have it for a month it won’t smell like me anymore. How about every other day?’

Carmilla turned and slid her hands into Laura’s hair, pulling her closer.

‘I can live with that,’ she murmured.

Before their lips could touch, they were interrupted by LaFontaine and Perry.

‘Hey, we said no making out in our room.’

‘At least they waited until they’d hidden all the cupcakes,’ Perry said with obvious relief.

Carmilla sighed and stepped out of Laura’s embrace.

‘And remember,’ Perry continued sternly, ‘this is all in good fun.’

The cupcake hunt had been Laura and Perry’s idea. Laura had heard Danny talking about the big Zeta vs Summer Society egg hunt, and had wanted to do something similar. Perry thought it would be cute if they used cupcakes instead of eggs.

‘So, Laura, you look for the ones with the yellow eggs and, Carmilla, you look for the black eggs.’

‘We know, Perry,’ Laura grinned. She grabbed Carmilla’s hand, pulling her out of the room. ‘Come one. I have a week of cleaning to win.’

‘You’ll never win,’ Carmilla said. She’d already thought up a plan to keep Laura from finding her cupcakes.

‘We’re not allowed to touch each other’s cupcakes. So no eating, replacing or throwing away.’

 _Damn it._ There went her brilliant plan.

Laura opened their door. Carmilla snorted when she saw their neatly made beds and the way her books had been sorted by subject. LaFontaine had probably hid the little cakes while Perry did some frenzied tidying.

‘Ready?’ LaFontaine called.

‘Ready!’ Laura yelled back.

Carmilla couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips at when she saw the way her girlfriend’s eyes were shining and one of her legs twitched in anticipation.

‘Go!’

Laura was the first through the door and immediately started pulling apart her side of the room. She pulled her books off the shelves, her clothes out of the closet. Finally, when she threw open one of her suitcases she crowed in victory.

Carmilla decided on an entirely different approach. She observed her side of the room carefully and looked for anything out of the ordinary. Aside from the tidiness, it looked pretty much the same. She checked behind her books first, smiling when she saw a little cupcake with a black egg on top of it. Next she opened the fridge, where she found one of Laura’s cakes. Barely resisting the urge to quickly stuff it in her mouth, she closed it. She checked behind the curtains, and found another one of her own.

She was starting to think she might win, when there was another triumphant shout from Laura. They were tied.

Quickly moving on to her own side of the closet, Carmilla found another cupcake behind her tops. That was three.

She placed it next to the other two on her desk and  tried to think of another place LaFontaine would hide something. The bathroom.

Stepping over Laura, who was looking under her bed, Carmilla moved to the bathroom. When she opened the door her eyes were caught by the two cupcakes sitting side by side on top of the sink. Laura scrambled up from the ground, while Carmilla grabbed the two little cakes. She handed Laura’s to her with a smirk.

‘I win.’

‘What?’ Laura pouted. ‘How? Did you cheat? Did you eat one of mine?’

‘Did you get the one in the fridge?’

‘The- Who puts cake in the fridge?!’ Laura exclaimed. She grumbled as she quickly retrieved her final cupcake from its hiding place. She took a bite and sighed in relief. ‘Thank god, it’s only been in there for a couple minutes.’

Carmilla grabbed her own cupcakes from the desk and then nudged her head towards the door. ‘Want to see how LaFontaine and Perry are doing?’

Laura nodded and followed her out into the hallway. When they arrived at their friends’ room, they saw that only three cupcakes had been found so far. The two seemed to have worked out a system where LaFontaine searched and Perry tidied up after them.

Laura pushed open the door a little further, then pulled Carmilla down next to her to sit against the wall opposite the dorm room.

‘I honestly thought they’d have found more by now,’ Carmilla mused.

‘We’re just really awesome at hiding stuff,’ Laura grinned. She took a triumphant bite out of her cupcake and held up her hand for a high-five.

Carmilla rolled her eyes, but slapped her hand against her girlfriend’s with a smile tugging at her lips.


	3. Strawberry (Mother's Day)

For the past week Carmilla had come back to their dorm after classes to find Laura browsing the internet. This in itself wasn’t strange, the girl was very invested in her favourite characters’ fictional lives. But Laura wasn’t on any of the fan sites, instead she’d spent hours looking for cheap last-minute flights home.

Carmilla figured her girlfriend was simply homesick. The school year was coming to a close and Laura probably couldn’t wait to go home and see her dad. He might be overbearing and overprotective, but they got along really well. It sometimes made Carmilla wish she was closer to her own parents. But then she remembered that her mother didn’t have a heart, and that her father never even bothered to spell her name correctly on the birthday cards she received, always at least a month too late.

But now, after a week of very little sleep and almost no talking, Carmilla wasn’t so sure that it was just homesickness. She should talk to Laura about this. Except that she really sucked at this stuff. Maybe she should ask Perry?

No. Laura was _her_ girlfriend. That meant she at least had to try. If she messed up, she could always ask for advice.

‘Hey, Laura.’

A distracted hum and wave were all she got.

Carmilla sat down at the foot of her bed and took a deep breath in.

‘Laura? Cupcake?’

This time there was no reaction at all. Laura’s fingers continued typing, her eyes kept flying over the screen to take in as much info in as little as possible.

Carmilla gently laid her hands on top of Laura’s to still them.

Laura froze and turned towards her.

Carmilla had expected her to be angry about being disturbed, but the look in Laura’s eyes was sad, almost haunted. She started rubbing little circles on the back of Laura’s hands.

‘What’s going on?’ she asked.

Laura swallowed. ‘It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday.’

Carmilla frowned. Why would that affect her so much? She and Will had learned to never do anything for their mother on this day, when they were very young. The woman had not appreciated the little works of “art” they’d glued together at school.

‘My dad and I, we… We always go to her grave. Well, it’s not really… It’s…‘ Laura took a shaky breath in, and tried to blink the tears from her eyes.

Carmilla guided Laura out of her chair and to her bed. Laura lay down, curling into Carmilla’s chest when she lay down next to her.

‘She disappeared when I was ten. She went hiking with some friends. She had to pee and told the others to keep walking. She’d catch up.’

Hugging the girl closer, Carmilla placed a small kiss on top of her head. Laura didn’t need to tell her that her mother never did catch up with her friends.

Laura’s voice sounded thick when she continued. ‘We always put flowers on her grave on Mother’s Day. And then we go watch a movie, or we take a walk if the weather’s nice. But I’m not there. I’m not—‘

Carmilla continued hugging her while Laura cried.

~

The next morning, by some miracle, Carmilla was up before Laura. She wanted nothing more than to stay in bed and cuddle her girlfriend, but she had things to do. Things that would hopefully make Laura feel a little better.

When she was done, Laura was still asleep. It wasn’t a miracle, actually. The girl had been up several nights in a row, looking for a way to get home, and then back to Silas before her finals on Monday. Carmilla gently shook Laura’s shoulder, trying to wake her up, but all she got was incoherent mumbling. She grabbed the mug of coffee from the tray she’d put on her own bed and held it under Laura’s nose, certain the fumes would wake her up.

She couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her when Laura’s eyes snapped open.

‘Good morning, sundance,’ Carmilla smiled.

She brushed the hair from Laura’s face as the girl smiled back at her.

‘Coffee,’ Laura mumbled, and made grabby hands towards the mug.

‘Sit up first. I made you breakfast.’

Laura raised her eyebrows in question, but did as she was asked. When she was upright, Carmilla handed her the coffee, and then placed the tray, laden with a bowl of cereal, a cupcake with strawberry filling, and a rose, on her lap.

‘How are you doing?’ she asked

‘I- A little better. Thanks.’ Laura traced the petals of the rose with the tip of her finger.

‘Good. I got an idea while you were sleeping,’ Carmilla started a little hesitant. Either this went well, or it would blow up in her face. ‘I contacted one of your old high school friends, Spencer, and he said he’d put some flowers on your mom’s grave with your dad, so he won’t be alone.’ When Laura didn’t say anything, but only stared at her, Carmilla decided to take it as a good sign and continued, ‘And, if you wanted to, we could go to the movies tomorrow. I know it’s not the same as with your dad, but—‘

Carmilla closed her mouth with a snap when Laura started to move. The girl placed the tray with her breakfast on the bed and stood up. Then she lunged at Carmilla, wrapping her in a hug so tight Carmilla couldn’t breathe.

‘Thank you,’ Laura mumbled into her shoulder.

Carmilla hugged her back just as tightly.

‘You’re welcome, cutie.’


	4. Chocolate & Cherry Liqueur (Father's Day)

‘Thanks for picking these up,’ Laura said from the other bed, holding up the box from the bakery. She’d been running around campus all day, turning in papers and arguing with professors about her grades, so she hadn’t had time. Carmilla hadn’t minded, she wanted her girlfriend to have a nice Father’s Day with her dad, and she waved away the thank you.

Laura smiled at her, looking like she was about to say something more, but then the little _ping_ of her dad accepting the video chat sounded through the speakers.

Carmilla retreated behind her book. She was sprawled on her back on her own bed, one leg dangling off the side, pretending not to listen to the conversation between Laura and her dad. She couldn’t help the small stings of jealousy when she heard the proud affection in Mr. Hollis’ voice, the rumbling laugh when Laura told him a story about one of her professors, the concern when Laura let something slip about the intense feud between the Summers and Zetas. Carmilla’s relationship with her own father wasn’t anything like that. Maybe it was because her mother had always treated him like he was nothing more than a sperm donor, or maybe because he was an asshole, but neither of these reasons made her feel any better.

Realizing the book was no longer over her head, but lying on chest, Carmilla quickly lifted it up again, and sneaked a glance at Laura to make sure her ruse was still working.

Father and daughter had moved on from talking about school, to talking about their summer plans. Carmilla would be going with Laura to stay with the Hollises for a week and a half, and then Laura would go with her to a cabin her mother owns in the mountains for another week and a half. The last month of summer break they’d be spending apart, Laura working at the newspaper in her hometown, while Carmilla would be going to France with her long-time friend Mattie. She’d miss Laura, miss the smiles and kisses and sleeping with someone in her arms, but she also really missed her best friend. Mattie went to school in America and only came home for the summer. Well, she didn’t really go home, just back to Europe.

Carmilla started paying closer attention to the conversation when Mr. Hollis asked, ‘So you think you’ll be going back next year?’

 _Why hadn’t she known there was a chance Laura wouldn’t be coming back to Silas?_ Carmilla gripped her book a little tighter, leaving nail marks in  the cover.

‘Yes, dad,’ Laura sighed, like she’d already given this answer a hundred times. ‘I like it here and the professors are really good.’

‘And you’re happy?’

Carmilla glanced at her girlfriend to see that Laura was looking at her too. A flush rises to her cheeks at being caught.

‘Yeah. I’m happy.’

‘Speaking of, where’s Carmilla?’

The question made Carmilla blush even more and she put all her energy into looking unaffected and nonchalant. Of course she made Laura happy. Anyone could see that. And she knew Mr. Hollis liked her. The question was nothing to get flustered about.

‘She’s pretending to read and not listen to our conversation.’

Carmilla put her book down. _Busted_. Laura chuckled and waved her over. When Carmilla got within Laura’s arm range, Laura grabbed her hand and pulled her into her side.

‘Hello, sir,’ Carmilla said, nodding at the camera.

Mr. Hollis huffed in amusement, making his moustache flutter. ‘I’m glad you were raised so well, but you really can call me Sherman.’

‘Sorry, si— Sherman.’

‘Now, how about we start on these,’ Sherman said and waved his own cupcake in front of the camera. They were simple chocolate cupcakes with a cherry liqueur core. They were not in either Carmilla’s or Laura’s top ten favourite flavours, but it had been Sherman’s day to choose a cupcake.

Carmilla took a bite out of her cupcake, sweet stickiness filling her mouth, and cherry liqueur warming her throat.


	5. Pumpkin (Halloween)

‘Soo… What do you think?’ Laura jumped out of the bathroom making jazz hands.

Carmilla looked up from where she was reading on the bed and huffed out a laugh. Her girlfriend was a complete dork.

‘Are you going as a sexy librarian? Because I have to say I approve,’ Carmilla smirked, letting her eyes drift over the skirt, tight blouse and dark blue vest. ‘Maybe loosen an extra button on that blouse for the full effect?’

‘No! I’m Lois Lane. Look, I have a press pass and a notepad,’ Laura pouted, waving the notepad in the air. ‘I told you this, like, two weeks ago.’

‘She’s the journalist, right? From Superman?’

‘Yes, and my hero.’ Laura added with emphasis. ‘So, what’s you’re costume?’

‘Not sure,’ Carmilla shrugged.

‘You haven’t decided on a costume yet?’

‘Well, I know I want it to be something that’ll make those Zeta boys poop their pants.’

Once a year, for Halloween, Zeta Mu and the Summer Society buried the hatched to throw a Halloween party, a “legendary” party. They were pretty fun; she’d been going since she was sixteen. Last year, she’d convinced a couple of drunken Zeta pledges their frat house was haunted, and that the only way to get rid of the evil spirits was to sacrifice a goat. She still didn’t know where they’d actually found one at two in the morning. The poor beast had been saved by the Summers in the nick of time, and the pledges cut off from the booze and made to volunteer for clean-up duty.

‘Do you have another one of those blouses? I could go as a professor. Or a PTA mom,’ Carmilla grinned at Laura, who looked at her with fond exasperation. ‘You know I should’ve thought of a costume sooner—‘

‘Yes, you should have.’

‘—because I probably won’t be able to get a cop costume anywhere now. That would definitely scare the crap out of those boys. They’d probably only have “sexy” cop, though. Don’t worry, cupcake. I’ll think of something,’ Carmilla added when Laura dropped next to her on the bed with a sigh. She kissed Laura on the cheek, then pushed off the bed to root around in her closet, and pulled a bundle of clothes from the bottom of the pile. ‘I can work with this,’ she said mostly to herself, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Five minutes later, she stepped out.

‘Is that going to be you’re costume?’ Laura asked, raising her eyebrows. ‘What are you? A not-sexy librarian?’

‘No. It’s not possible for me to look not-sexy,’ Carmilla answered. She looked down at herself, from the flats on her feet, to the khaki pants, to the checkered button-up. She’d pulled her hair into a tight ponytail. Okay, maybe she did look a little bit not-sexy. ‘And don’t knock it before you’ve seen the entire thing.’

She unbuttoned the topmost button of her shirt. God, why was that button even there? She felt like she was being strangled.

‘So you’re a sexy librarian, after all?’ Laura teased.

‘No.’ Carmilla continued unbuttoning. When only the bottom buttons were left, she pulled the shirt open.

‘Oh my god,’ Laura squealed, jumping at the sight of the blue, red and yellow shirt underneath.

Carmilla fished the fake glasses out of her back pocket and jammed them onto her face. ‘I’m Clarke Kent, reporter for the Daily Planet and your trusty side-kick. Here to save you whenever you put your life on the line for the sake of the truth.’

‘You sneaky romantic,’ Laura giggled as she pulled Carmilla closer by the collar of her shirt.

‘That’s our secret,’ Carmilla murmured, setting her hands on Laura’s waist.

‘Pretty sure Laf and Perry already know,’ Laura countered.

Carmilla decided to press their lips together in favour of answering. The warmth she felt every time they kissed rushed through her body, before settling in her chest like a small ember of happiness.

‘You know, we could just stay here,’ Laura opted when they pulled back.

‘Do you really want to disappoint Kirsch?’ Carmilla blamed Will and Laura for that friendship. Her brother because he’d brought Kirsch to their dorm that first time, and Laura for the ability to befriend almost anyone.

‘Fine,’ Laura sighed, taking a step back.

‘We can’t go there on an empty stomach, though.’

Laura’s wide-eyed excitement was back in an instant.

Carmilla grabbed the box from where she’d hidden it behind a pile of pillows. She flipped open the lid to reveal two too orange cupcakes. The cupcakes were pumpkin flavoured, one with a ghost decoration, the other with a black cat. She handed the cat cupcake to Laura.

‘I should probably be concerned that you’re so good at hiding stuff from me, but I’m too happy about your costume and this cupcake,’ Laura smiled. She took a big bite from the cupcake and hummed happily.

‘Happy Halloween, cutie.’


	6. Chocolate with Vanilla Icing and Mint Sprinkles (Christmas)

Carmilla sat at the kitchen table, sipping her coffee as she waited for the oven to ping. She let her thoughts wander, and unsurprisingly they wandered to last year’s Christmas. A lot had changed in only one year.

Last year, she’d come here feeling like an intruder. She’d barely known Laura, and hadn’t known Sherman at all. And they hadn’t known her, but made a place for her where she fitted more comfortably than she’d imagined she could. In that place she’d fallen for Laura, hard and fast. It had made her cautious the first week she’d been here. She hadn’t wanted to make Laura feel uncomfortable and regret inviting her, and she definitely hadn’t wanted Sherman to think she might be a danger to his daughter. The man was a force to be reckoned with.

She smiled into her mug when she remembered the last minute gifts Laura had managed to find for her: a Tardis mug, twin to Laura’s own so Carmilla would stop stealing it; a collection of 17th century poems, a lot of which were overrated in Carmilla’s opinion, but she’d been touched by how well Laura seemed to know her; and somehow Laura had found a book with tips on how to keep your dorm clean. Sherman had looked confused by that one, but Carmilla had chuckled and promised she’d read it, even if she couldn’t promise actually using it.

The oven pinged and Carmilla was startled out of her reverie. She put her coffee down and quickly grabbed the oven mitts to get the cupcakes out. She set them on the counter and looked them over. They didn’t look too bad for a first attempt. Some of them were a little lopsided, and one had spilled over the edge of its cup, but they weren’t burned.

Her initial plan had been to buy cupcakes, as she usually did, but Laura and Sherman lived in a small town, which meant only the churches were open on Christmas. Feeling mildly panicked, she’d looked up a recipe on the internet, and then conspired with Sherman to get Laura out of the house so she could get baking.

Mentally crossing her fingers that the cupcakes are not still raw on the inside, Carmilla grabbed the ingredients for the vanilla icing. The recipe made it look easy, and the picture made it look delicious, but she had no illusions that she could make it look like that. She just hoped for something that tasted good, even if it didn’t look amazing.

And that’s exactly what she got. The icing looked great, silky smooth, when still in the bowl, but when she scooped it onto the cupcakes, both she and the cakes quickly became a mess. Too late she realized she probably should’ve let them cool a little longer. With a shrug and a sigh, Carmilla grabbed the green, minty sprinkles and carefully dropped a couple into the icing on each cupcake. The recipe warned about overdoing it, you didn’t want cupcakes that tasted like toothpaste, after all.

When the cupcakes were all decorated more or less to her liking, she placed them on a plate, and started on the cleaning. She had no idea when Sherman and Laura would be back, and she didn’t want them to come back to a messy kitchen.

Cleaning allowed her mind to wander to last year’s Christmas again. She’d slept on a mattress on the floor of Laura’s room. Every night she’d waited until Laura was asleep, then turned to face the girl and watched her sleep until sleep finally caught her, too. She’d been aware it was a little creepy, but since Laura didn’t know, she’d figured it couldn’t hurt. This year she was sleeping right next to Laura, in her bed, with Laura fully aware that her girlfriend watched her sleep. And each morning she woke up with Laura in her arms, or she in Laura’s. It was a definite improvement.

She had put away the last spoon, and was starting on making a new pot of coffee when she heard the key in the front door. Laura and Sherman came in with a lot of noise, stamping the snow off their boots, Laura talking, both of them sighing at the comfortable warmth of being inside.

‘Carm? What’s that smell?’ Laura called out. The quick padding of socked feet approached the kitchen.

Carmilla stood by the kitchen table, hands squeezing the back of one of the chairs.

‘Oh my god!’ Laura yelled. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of the cakes. She glanced between them and Carmilla, then grinned. ‘Did you make these?’ she asked. Her eyes sparkled and she slid across the kitchen floor until she was next Carmilla, then dropped into a chair.

‘I did,’ Carmilla said, taking the chair next to Laura’s.

‘They look and smell amazing,’ Sherman said as he walked into the kitchen, and sat down in the chair on Laura’s other side.

‘Let’s hope they’ll taste just as great.’ Carmilla gave them both a tentative smile.

‘Can I?’ Laura asked, her hand already hovering over the cupcakes.

Carmilla nodded. She held her breath as Laura picked up a cupcake and took a bite.

‘Oh my god,’ Laura groaned. ‘These are amazing! Dad, try one!’

‘Don’t mind if I do.’ Sherman grabbed the nearest cake, then hummed and nodded approvingly to Carmilla.

Carmilla released her breath and relaxed in her chair, quickly schooling her expression into one of nonchalance. She knew she could do it.

She grabbed a cupcake for herself, took off the sprinkles, not being a fan of mint, and took a bite. She had to admit they weren’t bad. In a couple years, she might even rival Perry’s baking skills.

Laura quickly polished off the first cupcake, then grabbed another.

‘I really love these,’ she said. She dove in and pressed a quick and sticky kiss to Carmilla’s cheek. ‘And I love you. Thank you.’

‘What would Christmas be without cupcakes?’ Carmilla asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘Like most other people’s Christmases,’ Sherman teased.

‘Pffft,’ Laura snorted and waved her hand. ‘Why would we want other people’s Christmases? Ours is much better.’

Carmilla’s lips tugged up into a smile. She couldn’t agree more.


	7. Vanilla & Rainbow Sprinkles (New Years)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT!!! this fic is finally done! after 3 years! (sorry @everyone who was here from the start)

‘Carm, I need a little help here!’

Carmilla looked down to the balcony. Laura was standing there, bundled up in a coat and scarf, holding what looked like a bottle of champagne, and two glasses. Carmilla raised her eyebrows.

‘Quick! Before my dad notices a bottle’s missing,’ Laura added, waving the champagne.

Carmilla shook her head and took the glasses and booze from Laura, but instead of climbing up next to her as she expected, Laura disappeared back into the house. A minute later, she reappeared.

‘I got us the last one,’ she grinned up at Carmilla, holding up a cupcake.

Unlike Christmas, Carmilla had thought ahead for New Year’s. She’d checked if the bakery was still open that day, or the day before, and placed an order. She’d kept it simple, vanilla with rainbow sprinkles, and only ordered twelve. The baker looked something like relieved when Carmilla had told her what she wanted; a small, simple order amidst all the rush and craziness of the holidays.

Carmilla somehow managed to hold on to the glasses, champagne, and the cupcake while Laura made her way up onto the sloped roof. The moment Laura set down, she took back the cupcake.

‘It’s almost midnight,’ she said.

‘Shouldn’t we be going back in, then?’ Carmilla asked.

New Year’s wasn’t something the people here celebrated with their families. No, it was something they celebrated with the entire town. People had been coming and going all evening, and Laura and Sherman had dragged her with them as they made their round through the neighbourhood. The people were nice enough, but this was what Carmilla preferred, just her and Laura.

Laura shook her head. ‘Let’s stay up here and watch the fireworks.’

Carmilla nodded. She turned her attention to the champagne and carefully poured each of them a glass. It wasn’t easy. She had to take off her gloves, and the cold immediately made her fingers clumsy. At least the champagne would remain chilled in this weather.

As they drank and shared nibbles of the cupcake, they watched the fireworks die down. With only a couple minutes to midnight, everything went very quiet, like the quiet before a storm. Everyone was saving their energy, and fireworks, for the stroke of midnight.

‘Remember last year?’ Laura whispered.

Carmilla threw her a look. Of course she remembered. That had been their first kiss. How could she ever forget?

‘I was really nervous,’ Laura continued. ‘I’d planned it all out, and then midnight came and realized how awkward it would be with my dad right there.’

‘I didn’t think about that,’ Carmilla chuckled. She’d just pulled Laura in and kissed her on the lips, feeling nothing but relief and happiness when Laura had kissed her back with enthusiasm. ‘Not until I pulled back and he was standing right behind you, looking at the ceiling.’

Laura laughed. ‘I think that’s the only time I’ve ever actually seen you be embarrassed.’

‘Worth it, though,’ Carmilla said.

‘Totally.’

They smiled at each other, and Carmilla was about to lean in for a kiss, when the entire town started counting down as one. Laura sat up a little straighter, counting down with them. Carmilla counted, too, if at a slightly lower volume.

‘…TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!’

Fireworks exploded everywhere, making Carmilla jump. She almost lost her footing and slid a little down the roof. Just as she stabilized herself and pushed herself back to safety, soft lips pressed against hers. Laura pulled back far too soon.

‘Happy New Year,’ Laura said. She grabbed the champagne bottle and refilled their glasses.

‘Happy New Year, cupcake,’ Carmilla said, and softly tapped her glass against Laura’s for a toast. She took a sip, watching her girlfriend watch the fireworks, knowing that whatever this year would bring, it would definitely be a happy one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm also on [tumblr](http://fandom-madnessess.tumblr.com/).


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